expanded shale price

[mid falasco]

just wondering ,I am in east central florida and have been trying to locate expanded shale as recommended by friends here on this site ,the closest I have found is Melbourne Fl. ,the drive isn't bad  but I was just wondering about the price because I have nothing to compare it to .I will be paying 22.00 for each 50 litre bag ,approx. 40 lbs. per bag ,does anyone have an opinion on that price ?

 F.Y.I. if looking in Fl. for stone ;

The store also sells Plant!t brand hydroton 34.00 per 50 ltr. and hydrostone same size for 28.00 per bag ,

[Robert J]

If you email Rob [e-mail] he can tell you who has it near you.  A lot of universities buy it or have it donated in bulk and are willing to sell it reasonably cheap.  My is standard 3/4" expanded shale and cost me $200 for a pickup truck load.

[mid falasco]

thank you both ,I will email him and the recommendation on the size is much appreciated .

Robert J said:

If you email Rob [e-mail] he can tell you who has it near you.  A lot of universities buy it or have it donated in bulk and are willing to sell it reasonably cheap.  My is standard 3/4" expanded shale and cost me $200 for a pickup truck load.

[Glenn]

General landscape supply centers ought to be a good source. Like "landscape Supply Co. in Orlando. I'm pretty sure they deliver to your general area if it's yards rather than bags or ltrs.  Here's an online link with their number and some product info.

 http://www.landscapesupplyco.com/ 

 

 

[mid falasco]

thank you ,I will try that this morning

[Roger Baldwin]

I was able to find it at a concrete batch plant.  An expanded shale product used in making light weight concrete. I paid $30 for a yard.  It was really dust and had too many small particles in it, but after I ran it over a screen made of 1/2" hardware cloth, and washed it thoroughly, it has worked great.  I would recommend testing pH in any bulk LECA, before you commit to it.

[mid falasco]

I was told to be careful about the type of shale it was when checking at a batch plant so I didn't check  even though there is one nearby me , but I guess it would be worth a run by there to see what they might have and test the ph by taking a sample .Good Idea ,I don't mind sifting it if it is worth it money wise .thanks for the suggestion .

[mid falasco]

Thanks for all the suggestions ,I contacted all the sources mentioned and called a few batch plants ,the prices were similar to what I located in Melbourne Fl. for a product he called hydro stone ,none of the batch plants had any shale and the other sources were farther away or to expensive by the time you add shipping .I have decided to go down Wednesday but will call to make sure it is still available as he only had 12 bags and I need at least 10 at 50 ltrs. each .Thank you all again and will keep you posted as the system gets up and running and then add some photos  .

[George]

Stalite - give them a call

I bought it by the truckload here in Jax - per ton price.

[mid falasco]

thanks , I'll keep it in mind if I need more .

[Aquaponic_man]

I live in Melbourne! what is the name of that store!?!?!? Please, I want to have a legit set up and can't find a decent medium to have. I need some expanded shale too....

[George]

Expanded Slate

Call them to find the nearest distributor, preferably with 3/4 inch, although my .5 inch has done very well for two years now.  The 3/4 would be lots less work because the smaller stuff has been screened out.  The .5 inch contained a lot of fines and it took me too many hours to prep it.  Good luck. 

http://www.stalite.com/

[mid falasco]

the place in Melbourne is called High tech garden supply ,2975 west new haven ,it's right off 95 ,about a mile east of it .There is a guy named Taylor there ,he is pretty knowledgeable on hydro and aqua ,they have hydroton ,shale and other products ,their main focus is hydroponics ,very helpful people

 
 
Victor Delcea said:

I live in Melbourne! what is the name of that store!?!?!? Please, I want to have a legit set up and can't find a decent medium to have. I need some expanded shale too....